From Forbes Mag:
Half Of Adults In The U.S. Have Diabetes Or Pre-Diabetes, Study Finds
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Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.
A
national wake up call to intensify efforts to control the obesity
crisis with added focus on diet, exercise and monitoring blood sugar
According to a study published online in JAMA
today, nearly 50% of adults living in the U.S. have diabetes or
pre-diabetes, a condition where a person already has elevated blood
sugar and is at risk to develop diabetes.
Diabetes, a condition where blood sugar is elevated, may reflect lack
of production of insulin to lower blood sugar (Type 1) or insulin
resistance (Type 2), generally the result of obesity, poor diet or lack
of exercise leading to the metabolic syndrome.
Diabetes is a costly disease in the U.S, racking up an estimated 245 billion in 2012, related to consumption and utilization of
health
care resources as well as lost productivity, according to the
researchers in the study. Diabetes can damage blood vessels, the eyes
and kidneys, also resulting in poor wound healing and devastating soft
tissue infections. And nearly 71,000 persons die annually due to
complications associated with diabetes, based on recent statistics from
the
American Diabetes Association.
Researchers evaluated 5,000 patients who were part of a national
survey designed to assess the prevalence of diabetes and explore trends
in different subgroups and ethnicities.
Results from the study indicated that in 2012, between 12% and 14% of
adults had diabetes, the most recent data available. The majority of
these diabetics are type 2, the result of poor diet, obesity and lack of
exercise.
Researchers also uncovered that rates of diabetes among Asian
Americans--who were previously an unstudied population--were as high as
rates observed among other minorities. Up to 20% of Asian Americans had
diabetes, with nearly 50% unaware of it.
Additional study data also revealed that up to 22% of African
Americans had diabetes, compared to 11% among whites. Nearly 23% of
Hispanics and 20% of Asians were noted to have diabetes.
Important to note, the proportion of undiagnosed diabetes was as high
as 50% in Hispanics and Asian-Americans, while it was only about 33% in
white and blacks.
According to the researchers, “Diabetes prevalence significantly
increased over time in every age group, in both sexes, in every racial
and ethnic group, by all education levels, and in all poverty income
groups.”
The researchers also stratified the study participants by BMI, or
body mass index, an indicator of obesity derived by dividing weight (in
kg) by height in square meters. “When stratified by BMI, diabetes only
increased among people with a BMI of 30 or greater,” the researchers
wrote. A BMI > 30 indicates a person has obesity. The one exception
noted was among Asian-Americans where an average BMI of 25 defined
diabetes, classifying them as overweight but not obese.
A
CDC study
published in 2014 noted that 29 million persons in the U.S. had
diabetes, with 86 million classified as having pre-diabetes--nearly a
third of the U.S. adult population.
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Monitoring Blood Sugar Before Diabetes Develops
The natural question is how can we protect and monitor persons before
they develop diabetes. While Hb A1C is certainly an accurate way to
accomplish this, the use of sensors and novel technologies such as
fluorescence utilized by researchers at University of Leeds in London via their Glucosense monitor to noninvasively track and monitor such parameters and Hb A1C and blood sugar may be the next frontier.
"The staggering numbers on metabolic disorders like diabetes and
metabolic syndrome in our country and throughout the industrialized
nations is a call to action," said Richard Able, Founder,
X2 Biosystems and Partner,
Stratos Group Seattle. "It's time for life science companies to
deliver state of the art biometric monitoring platforms to the masses."
Able believes that early detection and monitoring is the key to help
patients avoid slipping into the pre-diabetic state by keeping a close
watch on their blood sugar, especially for high risk individuals.
"Clinicians and patients should be 'connected' by technologies adapted for self monitoring and data exchange," he explained.
"Deploying 'Meaningful' biometric gathering information beyond the
simple pedometer and fitness bracelets is critical to attenuate the
coming wave of chronic conditions that will bankrupt our current
healthcare system," added Able.
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